CHICAGO, Feb. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week's list includes Target (NYSE:TGT-Free Report), Macy's (NYSE:M-Free Report),Gap (NYSE:GPS-Free Report), Home Depot (NYSE:HD-Free Report) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT-Free Report).
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Tough Period for the Retail Sector
The Retail sector is in focus this week, with a number of major retailers like Target (NYSE:TGT-Free Report), Macy's (NYSE:M-Free Report),Gap (NYSE:GPS-Free Report), Home Depot (NYSE:HD-Free Report) and others releasing quarter results. It has been a tough period for the sector, as Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT-Free Report) recently reconfirmed, with weather adding to the sector's many other challenges. In total, we will see Q4 results from almost 550 companies releasing results this week, including 43 S&P 500 members. This is the last major reporting week of this earnings season, as by the end of the week we will have seen Q4 results from more than 97% of the S&P 500 members.
The final quarter of the year is the seasonally strongest for the retail sector. But the last holiday season was challenging for many retailers from the get go, with a tough competitive environment forcing heavy promotions on many to move merchandise. Weather wasn't much of a problem earlier on in the quarter, but has been outright nasty ever since.
The chart below shows how estimates for the sector for the final quarter of 2013 have evolved lately. Please note that the current growth estimate of -4.5% represents a composite of the 25 S&P 500 retail sector companies that have reported and the 17 still to come.
The Retail sector's Q4 problems have continued into the current period as well, with most companies guiding lower for 2014 Q1.
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